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Kenworthy Claims Olympic Spot

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USSA

2014-01-18 15:51

Gus Kenworthy claimed a spot on the first-ever U.S. Olympic team for slopestyle skiing Saturday with his second-place finish at the final event of the Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix Tour at Park City. (Sarah Brunson/U.S. Freeskiing)

PARK CITY, UT (Jan. 18) – Gus Kenworthy (Telluride, CO) claimed a spot on the first-ever U.S. Olympic team for slopestyle skiing Saturday with his second-place finish at the final event of the Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix Tour at Park City. Local favorite Joss Christiansen (Park City, UT) stomped the victory in front of a crowd of family and friends while Bobby Brown (Breckenridge, CO) skied into third after clinching his Sochi spot Friday. The Olympic team nominations for slopestyle and halfpipe skiing will be announced at a ceremony Saturday night after the final halfpipe qualifier, which can be streamed live at usfreeskiing.com at 6:30 p.m. EST.

HIGHLIGHTS

Gus Kenworthy (Telluride, CO) claimed a spot on the first-ever U.S. Olympic team for slopestyle skiing Saturday with his second-place finish at the final event of the Visa U.S. Freeskiing Grand Prix Tour at Park City.

Local favorite Joss Christiansen (Park City, UT) stomped the victory in front of a crowd of family and friends while Bobby Brown (Breckenridge, CO) skied into third after clinching his Sochi spot Friday.

In addition to Olympic qualification, athletes have been competing for a total of $500,000 in cash prizes throughout the Sprint U.S. Grand Prix tour, including a bonus $2,500 award for the overall tour winner in slopestyle skiing.

The Olympic team nominations for slopestyle and halfpipe skiing will be announced at a ceremony Saturday night after the final halfpipe qualifier, which can be streamed live at usfreeskiing.com at 6:30 p.m. EST.

QUOTESGus KenworthyIt was an incredible day. The weather was great. The course was riding super well. Two of my best friends are on the podium with me and they skied so well. Joss Christiansen just put down one of the best runs I’ve ever seen in slopestyle and it’s just an honor to be on there with him.

It feels incredible. It’s such an honor. The Olympics have been a lifelong dream even before it was involved in our sport, and ever since it has been I’ve wanted to go. It just feels really, really good.

I think knowing exactly what I had to do took a little bit of the pressure off. It wasn’t as much of a guessing game and it just came down to the fact that I had to land my run. I’m so happy I could put it down.

Joss ChristiansenThis is my first slopestyle contest I've ever done in Park City, so I'm excited to get out here and enjoy this amazing weather. I've been waiting forever. This is my home, so being able to sleep in my own bed, go to the USSA Center of Excellence, drink my coffee and have my car made me feel so much more relaxed going into these events. I couldn't have asked for a better place.

It's awesome to have family here. My cousin made an awesome sign and a bunch of family come out, when usually it’s just my mom. It gives me so much more confidence knowing that my family is here watching me and cheering me on. I've got to make them proud.

Bobby BrownEven though I didn't have to compete, I did because I wanted to go skiing. It was perfect weather out and I would have been bummed if I was just watching at the bottom, so I just decided to go out to have a good time.

It will be so nice to travel to Sochi with someone that I've known my whole entire life. I'm looking forward to hanging out with Gus in Russia.